United Nations mission discusses allocation of Saudi Arabia's $100 million pledge for Pakistan

(Islamabad/New York, 12 October 2009): A high-level United Nations mission has travelled to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on behalf of all humanitarian agencies working in Pakistan, to discuss how best to spend the $100 million pledged by the Kingdom last month to support humanitarian operations in Pakistan.

"The meetings with high-level government representatives are going very well and we are on the right track to rightly allocate this generous donation to the most needy people in Pakistan," said Manuel Bessler, Head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Pakistan. In the past few weeks, the Humanitarian Country Team, which comprises UN agencies as well as international and national non-governmental organisations, has assessed the situation and has made proposals on where this additional aid is mostly required.

Millions of people have been affected by the conflict in Pakistan, and humanitarian assistance is needed for those who are still displaced, the newly displaced, those who have returned to their areas of origin, those who never left the conflict-affected areas, and families providing shelter for internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Of the 2.7 million people displaced since the start of the conflict in August 2008, 1.02 million are still living with either host families or in the 19 camps supported by the humanitarian community. About 1.65 million people have returned to their homes since July 2009, but ongoing military operations are still triggering new displacements, especially in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

To date, 60 percent of the $680 million revised requirements for the Pakistan Humanitarian Response Plan has been funded by more than 20 countries and private individuals and organisations.

For more information, please visit http://unportal.un.org.pk

For further information, please call: OCHA Pakistan:Billi Bierling, mobile +92 300 850 2397, bierling@un.org;OCHA-New York: Stephanie Bunker, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 347 244 2106, bunker@un.org; Nicholas Reader, +1 212 963 4961, mobile +1 646 752 3117, reader@un.org, John Nyaga +1 917 367 9262, +1 917 318 8917, nyagaj@un.org OCHA-Geneva: Elisabeth Byrs, +41 22 917 2653, mobile +41 79 473 4570, byrs@un.org OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or www.reliefweb.int